The Last Unicorn

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**Title** **The Last Unicorn**
Dust-jacket for The Last Unicorn
Author	Peter S. Beagle
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Fantasy novel
Publisher	Viking Press
Released	1968
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	218 pp
ISBN	NA

For the 1982 feature film, see The Last Unicorn (film).

The Last Unicorn is a fantasy novel written by Peter S. Beagle. It has sold more than five million copies worldwide since its original publication in 1968, and has been translated into at least 20 languages.

1 Plot summary
2 Major themes
3 Film adaptation
4 Other versions and new sequel
5 New film development
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story is about a unicorn who realizes that she is the last of her kind and then sets off on a quest to find out what became of all the other unicorns. The unicorn learns from an addled butterfly that something known as the Red Bull has herded her kind to the ends of the earth. She begins a journey to find them and bring them back. Along the way she picks up two traveling companions: the incompetent magician Schmendrick, and Molly Grue, care-worn lover of Captain Cully of Greenwood Forest.

When the unicorn nears the castle of King Haggard, supposed keeper of the Red Bull, she comes face to face with the great beast and learns she cannot withstand him. At the last moment before her final surrender and capture she is changed by Schmendrick's unpredictable magic into a mortal woman. In this form, the Red Bull is uninterested in her and leaves. Schmendrick, Molly Grue, and the strange young woman go to King Haggard's castle and seek entry. Schmendrick identifies the transformed unicorn to King Haggard as the Lady Amalthea. The wizard seeks a way for all three of them to stay there as members of Haggard's court, only to find that there isn't any such thing: the only occupants in the castle are Haggard, his adopted son Prince Lir, and four ancient men-at-arms. Haggard, for dark and mysterious reasons of his own, does allow them to stay, replacing his competent on-call wizard with Schmendrick, and setting Molly Grue to work in his scullery. Gradually forgetting who she was, Amalthea becomes more and more human with each day, and eventually falls in love with Prince Lir. Caught in a complex web of fate and feelings, she must struggle with losing her immortal self even as she continues to seek an answer to the mystery of what Haggard has done with her people. It is later revealed that Haggard, having grown bored with almost everything that life has to offer, ordered the Red Bull to herd the unicorns of the world into the sea beside his castle. There he alone could watch his unicorns, the one thing that still gave him a measure of happiness.

In the end, Schmendrick, Molly, Lir, and Amalthea confront the Red Bull in his lair. Schmendrick reverses the spell, turning Amalthea back into the unicorn, but she is unwilling to leave Lir. The Bull drives her toward the ocean, as he drove all the other unicorns, but Lir comes between them and is killed. Grieving, the unicorn turns on the Bull and forces him into the sea. The other unicorns come out of the water, destroying Haggard's castle as they rush past; the unicorn restores Lir to life before she, too, departs for her forest.

[edit] Major themes

The central theme in the book is the tradeoff between immortality and love. Illusions, destiny, and satire are also present.

Years before, Schmendrick's teacher had cast a spell on Schmendrick, making him immortal until he finally realized his true potential as a magician (the spell was so he could live long enough, being so incompetent and such a slow learner). Schmendrick tells Amalthea that mortal things are more beautiful because they don't last forever.

Love, similarly, can only exist when it's temporary. The unicorn reveals that immortals cannot love, regret, or cry. When the unicorn is transformed into Amalthea she begins to fall in love with Lir, but the more she does, the more she becomes mortal.

Schmendrick accidentally enchants a tree, which falls in love with him and vows to "keep the color of your eyes when no one else in the world remembers your name." Various songs and poems throughout the book mention mortality ("the shackles of my skin", "what is gone is gone", "I will love you as long as I can/However long that may be").

There are many illusions in the story. Almost everything at Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival is an illusion. Ironically, when the unicorn is on display at the carnival she is given an illusory horn so that carnival-goers can recognize her (most people can't see the unicorn's real horn because no one believes in unicorns anymore). Schmendrick conjures illusions of Robin Hood to distract Captain Cully and his men. The Lady Amalthea is a unicorn disguised as a woman. Schmendrick looks young but is much older than he appears. Schmendrick tricks a talking skull into thinking he's transformed water into invisible wine.

Several characters are affected by destiny. Schmendrick cannot escape his destiny to become a true magician because his teacher made him immortal. Lir fulfills a prophecy by doing things which lead to the destruction of King Haggard's castle. Mommy Fortuna realizes that her captive harpy is destined to kill her, but does not try to avoid her fate.

There's also satire. Hagsgate is a hilarious satire of Greek tragedy ("it was so obvious, so mythological"). Captain Cully is a takeoff on Robin Hood. Characters and events at King Haggard's castle poke fun at medieval stories ("Sorry for killing a dragon!").

The book is filled with religious undertones and symbology dating back to the 14th century, which it blithely mixes with modern references and deliberate anachronisms. The author did this because he wanted the book to be set in no discernable time, and so it could simultaneously be both a legitimate fairy tale and a satire on fairy tales.

[edit] Film adaptation

Main article: The Last Unicorn (film)

In 1982 the novel was made into an animated movie by Rankin/Bass for ITC Entertainment, with a screenplay by Peter S. Beagle based on his own novel.

Peter S. Beagle is currently in a public conflict with Granada International, successor to ITC Entertainment, seeking to be paid what he is contractually owed for the 1982 film from these sales, other distribution, and merchandising.

A "25th Anniversary Edition" DVD was released in the U.S. on February 6, 2007, produced using the digitally-restored masters from the German edition. It has audio and visual quality superior to the original U.S. release, and is in 16:9 widescreen format. The new DVD edition includes a featurette with an interview with the author ("The Tail of the Last Unicorn"), as well as a set-top game ("Escape from the Red Bull"), photo gallery ("Schmendrick's Magical Gallery"), and the original theatrical trailer.

Some film purists have criticized the 25th Anniversary DVD release over the continued censorship of language (several "damn"s have been muted) and the fact that it runs at 4% faster speed than the original release (thanks to the fact that the DVD was made from German PAL standard masters, which have a different frame rate than American video). Others have stated that the anamorphic widescreen transfer and improved sound and picture quality are worth these changes.

Conlan Press is offering the special edition DVD for sale. Due to ongoing contractual disputes, none of the proceeds of DVD purchases through other sources will reach Peter S. Beagle (though this may change if the dispute is resolved). However, because of the special agreement Conlan Press made with Lionsgate Entertainment, more than half of the payment for copies purchased through Conlan Press will go to Beagle. In addition to the standard version of the DVD, Conlan Press offers the option of purchasing individually personalized autographed copies [1].

[edit] Other versions and new sequel

Beagle recorded an unabridged audiobook of his novel in 2005 for Conlan Press. That company is selling the audiobook as a downloadable MP3, an MP3 CD, and in an eight CD collector's set (seven CDs for the audiobook, and the eighth containing an exclusive interview with the author).

In 2005, Beagle published a sequel story titled Two Hearts in Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine. The story is also included in the collection The Line Between, which was published in July 2006. It won the prestigious 2006 Hugo Award for Best Novelette, was a short fiction finalist for the 2006 World Fantasy Award, and has been nominated for the Nebula Award. The story is a bridge to a full-length sequel novel that is expected to follow some time in 2008.

People who purchase the Last Unicorn audiobook from Conlan Press will be sent a free autographed limited-edition hardcover copy of Two Hearts when it is published. [2] Preorders began in early 2005; but as of the beginning of 2007, the book has not yet been published due to numerous problems with publishers. It is currently expected to ship in May 2007. [3]

[edit] New film development

A live-action adaptation of the original book has been announced as in development for several years, but it is not clear what progress (if any) has been made towards production. A minor controversy erupted in 2005 over the producers' plans to create their screen unicorn by filming trained horses and then using CGI to modify them. This runs directly counter to the physical description of the unicorn in the book, which explicitly states that the unicorn looks nothing at all like "a horned horse," and has thus upset the book's fans.

In February 2006, Continent Films unveiled a new official website for the project which made clear that the film was still in development, not pre-production. It was not yet funded, did not have a shooting script, and had not been cast. In the new website, all actor names but Christopher Lee's had been removed; and even Mr. Lee's involvement was revealed to be nothing more than a promise to appear in the film if he was available and if terms could be worked out with his agent.

On March 8th, 2006, the Internet Movie Database shut down their page for the project because they were unable to verify that the film was actually being made.

Adding to the complexities of the situation, in the fall of 2005, Peter S. Beagle announced that he was actively seeking a film deal for one or more independent sequels based on new material he was writing (including his already-released coda story, "Two Hearts"). As part of any such deal he stated that he would seek to reacquire the rights to the original, enabling the production of a single unified multi-film franchise.

This announcement may explain why the new Continent Films website for their effort dropped the title Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn in favor of simply The Last Unicorn.